Wednesday, September 26, 2012

History of Horror RPGs (Part Seven: 2008-2009)

END TIMES DRAW NEAR

It makes a strange sense that as we draw closer to the
present, I hit more and more games I wasn't aware of. Some of these games
sparked briefly and went out, but some sustained themselves- I just hadn't
heard of them. I could be wrong, but it feels like as the RPG industry has
increased in volume, it has splintered. RPGs are already a niche and we have
niches within niches. That's not a bad thing, but the tyranny of choice means
I'll never have a chance to play or read many of these cool games.

Once again, I've left some interesting titles off this list. For example, New Wave Requiem
is one of the coolest ideas I've heard of. I don't think I could actually get
that to the table, but I love the idea. WW's created more in that spirit, Mage Noir and Victorian Lost.
Just as a concept I like those a little better than the straight historicals. I
bent my rule on pdf-only products because it becomes increasingly harder to
draw that line in this era. On the other hand, I left off the worthy Horror20 and Dead Reign- for
reasons which made sense at the time. There's also my favorite, Adventures into Darkness, which has Lovecraft writing superhero comics. Fiasco also appears in
this era and I wonder if I'm wrong to leave it off. It isn't exactly a
horror game, except in the sense of personal horror. But really smart players
have developed horror-based playsets like The Bookhounds,
Objective Zebra,
and Camp Death.

I'm sure I've left something off without adequate reason; feel free to add a
line I missed (if published from 2008-2009). I've arranged these in by year and
then by a nonsensical pattern within that year. I've also mostly skipped
editions and republications, trying to stick solely with first appearances.

Trail of Cthulhu takes the GUMSHOE concept and
applies it to classic Lovecraftian gaming. If it just did that, I would be
pretty pleased. That system for handling clues and investigations fits well
with this kgenre. I've even heard rumors that CoC 7 will borrow a little from
that.

But ToC doesn't stop there. The ever excellent Ken Hite gives us
his spin on Call of Cthulhu here. His approach is both erudite and
playable. the monsters are handled more abstractly- for example, with an
emphasis on atmospherics and suggestions on how they can be presented. The
rules explicit address and build for the "Purist" and
"Pulp" divide in these games. That's a refreshing change from
glossing over the split. Hite also moves the timeline and history forward into
the 1930's- to my mind a welcome change. I know some people love the 1920's,
but the next decade offers so many darker elements and opportunities for secret
and alternate history. Trail of Cthulhu sets the standard for
presentation and layout as well.

This is a strange little game I hadn't heard of before
researching this list. Nominated for a couple of Indie Game awards in 2008, Zombie
Cinema came in a VHS box. This is a story game which might also be seen
more as a board game by some. The game box contains short rules, cards, and
some tokens. Players create characters and collaboratively design the story for
the zombie movie. It takes its cues from the films, with players arguing over
authority and the lead cutting from scene to scene. It looks interesting- a
story game not unlike Fiasco- which also means that it requires the
right group to play out.

A line for the new World of Darkness which splits opinion.
On the one hand many hate the discarding of the supernatural elements and
overarching metastory from Hunter: The Reckoning;
on the other hand players like the open-ended approach of this form of Hunter.
The families and archetypes for this game line are examples, rather than set
and determined by the backstory. That gives it a flexibility missing from some
of the other line. In some ways it fits more closely to the old VTM product- The Hunters Hunted
which many expected HtR be. Hunter the Vigil has many ideas (group
teamwork benefits for example) useful for other modern horror games. It is a
limited series game, like Changeling the Lost and Promethean the
Created.

This game has perhaps my favorite vague publisher blurb,
"Ghost Stories is predicated on tales of horror and the supernatural as
found in movies, comics, and books from the last several decades." Thanks
for narrowing that down. This uses the genreDiversion rules
to cover horror games- from classic to modern. Now if they'd said that were
targeting ghost stories as a limited sub-genre, that might be interesting. But
this aims to provide the bolt-on systems to run horror games in this system.
That includes psychic powers, simple archetypes, and adversaries.

On my last list, I mentioned my frustration with many of
these "strange new reality" horror games. These had the players
observe some secret of our world and become caught up in something. Some games
presented and sold their premise clearly (like Don't Rest Your Head).
Others essentially said "Look, Spoooooky!" and didn't bother to
clarify their hook (if they had one). Exquisite Replicas falls into the
former camp. An alien reality has begun to invade and corrupt our world-
replacing people, places, and things with imposters from that reality. The PCs
can see these 'replicas' for what they really are. That's a simple and clear
pitch- and one that invites multiple interpretations and right away suggests
stories for the players. It is creepy- and I really like the cover art for the
book.

Apparently Dread was originally released in 2002, but
had its big publishing push in 2008. It is a modern horror game with lots of
demons, black magic, and crazy occult symbology. It looks pretty metal. The
back cover of the book has lots of colorful blurbs, but it isn't easy to say
what the game's about (besides demons). I think you might actually be playing
demon-worshippers or at least servants to demons, based on the flavor text
there- but the review suggest the opposite, that you're actually hunters
against those demons. Most of the reviews invoke phrases like ass-kicking,
gritty, stylish, demons. It has a number of supplements out for it, Pent:
The First Gospel of Pandemonium, Dire:
The First Creed of Pandemonium, and Crux:
The Pandemonium Scriptures Volume 1.

A French horror rpg I had to include because of the awesome
name. It seems to be a tongue-in-cheek look at cinematic worlds, especially
including those of horror. Supplements include a history book (for doing what
looks like Clash of the Titans) and a "redneck" book (which
seems to cover everything from Deliverance to Children of the Corn
to Tucker and Dale Versus Evil). I don't expect an English edition of
this.

This took some time to actually see print, but it has
received a warm reception. It uses Unisystem to emulate Ghosts
of Albion, a property created for the BBC. It offers a Victorian
setting with magical intrigue and battles. Adversaries include demons, faeries,
and cult members. Players can chose to be mundane or more magically connected.

Like Ghosts of Albion above, this is another
adaptation from a licensed property. Also like GoA above, I'm not familiar with
the source material. This game's based on a pair of "cult-hit" movies
from Dead Gentlemen (better known around these parts for The Gamers
movies). Apparently the game itself came with a special 30-minute DVD. I have
to say, from the cover and blurb it is hard to tell how serious or how
tongue-in-cheek this game is meant to be.

That's a great name- or at least one which makes me look
twice at the game. It has survival horror with a slight twist, with cannibal
lunatics instead of zombies. There are been a number of films (The Crazies)
which take this premise. The recent dark and supper gory Crossed comics
from Avatar also use this. Cannibal Contagion focuses on the mental
& social stress and breakdown among survivors. It uses a competitive card
game mechanic to play that out. That's based on a simple trump mechanic from a
playing-card deck. Trumping another player's card allows someone to add
narrative to the scene. That's a clever idea and establishes some flow. The
longer an exchange goes on, the more damage which must be distributed. The game
includes a couple of campaign set ups, including handling it as a traditional
zombie game.

Savage
Worlds finally meets the Cthulhu Mythos (unless you count the various
Lovecraftian lifts in Deadlands). The earlier Trail of Cthulhu and
Call
of Cthulhu d20 demonstrated a market for the material adapted to other
systems. Of course Savage Worlds showcases itself as Fast! Furious! Fun!
so does that fit with nihilistic horror? It does for a certain pulpy approach
to the genre- pretty popular in many circles. Realms of Cthulhu adds
sanity and corruption to the rules. It keeps the 1920's setting and generally sticks
to the CoC playbook rather than mixing things up too much.

While I knew about Realms of Cthulhu, Shadows of
Cthulhu using True20
somehow passed me by. Our group tried True20 for a couple of campaigns.
Some quite liked it, but it never hooked the majority. It again sticks with the
base 1920's setting and essentially aims at two audiences: True20
die-hards and those who perhaps want to gently bring over hardcore d20 players
over to Call of Cthulhu through a gateway system. As with RoC above, Shadows
of Cthulhu is not a complete game, but requires the True20 core.

And then there's this, which calls itself Lovecraftian, but
it isn't clear how much they're actually using the Mythos and how much that's
become a weak adjective for horror. Dark Aeons is a diceless game which
uses a substitute randomizer- cards. The threat seems to descend from old
Atlantis- and the world has sorcerers, psychics, and faithful- but the blurb
doesn't make clear where the PCs fit into this conflict. There seem to be conspiracy
elements to the setting, but I had a hard time pulling out the premise from the
publisher material. There's a weird near-future alt-history high-tech vibe to
some of the material which isn't suggested elsewhere. It feels like a homebrew
campaign setting people played and wanted to sell to a larger audience.
However, as sometimes happens, the authors haven't figured out how to pitch
what was cool about that to a larger audience.

When I see John Wick's name on
something, I know I have to check it out. He always manages to add something I
hadn't considered when I read through his designs- from the bizarre detail of
something like Thirty
to the excellent advice of Blood & Honor. Shotgun
Diaries is Wick's rules-lite zombie apocalypse game. You get a simple,
fast, and frantic game here. When you roll- you're killing zombies. Everything
else is unimportant or the path to get to killing those zombies. Players try to
accumulate dice to roll. If they fail to get a success, then the Zombie Master
gets to say what happens. It is simple and effective. The game is brief but has
a number of innovations, including a zombie clock which ticks by building up
the next horde to face the group.

I find it interesting when we get thematic coincidences in
rpgs. Exquisite Replicas presents a broad horror setting with a world
being replaced by another reality (perhaps thematically borrowing from Grant
Morrison's work like The Invisibles). On the other hand 44: A Game of
Automatic Fear takes a narrower approach. You discover someone you know has
been replaced by a robotic doppelgänger leading you into the heart of a
conspiracy. It is more Invasion of the Body Snatchers or Invaders
from Mars. This is a short, story-focused game. The players collaboratively
build the story, with each having a set number of scenes. There's a resolution
mechanic- where players can use their characters' bonds and anxieties to affect
their rolls. A very cool game and freely available online. It was nominated for
a couple of Indie RPG awards.

There are a lot of games about madness and questioning
sanity in this decade. In Vox you play a character who hears voices,
voices which tell you things- all kinds of things. At the table you
control your own character as well as one of the voices in the head of other
PCs. There's a weird meta-sense to that. One detail I appreciate is the game's
flip-book design- splitting up player and GM material. Vox comes with
four settings, including sci-fi horror and Lovecraftian mad science. It feels
like an interesting story sandbox for more cerebral horror games.

I think one of best developments for rpgs, and horror gaming
in particular, has been the rise of smaller, independently-developed games.
These usually have a striking concept, simple rules, and the ability to easily
pick up and play. So we've gotten ashcan, pdf-only, Lulu published, and other
approaches. Rather than putting out a Big! book with detailed background, these
games invite you to experience something in a short period of time. Some, like Fiasco,
have taken off. The advent of 24 Hour RPG contests, Game Chef, and free
rpg advocates like 1KM1KT
means that we'll see more.

Escape from Tentacle City is an independently crafted comedy-horror game
nominated for an Ennie and Indie RPG award. It is a survival horror game with a
focus on the bottom rungs of society. Players choose a disenfranchised group to
come from; the wealthy and privileged have the resources to fly away. The game
plays out as comedic social critique with the horrors of the End of Days as a
backdrop. It is a collaborative, GM-less storytelling game. The Hopeless Gamer
has a good review of it which you can find here.

There's another interesting movement in small game
development where complete games are also scenarios- like The Mountain Witch
and Lady Blackbird.
The game establishes a clear premise, characters (or simple creation system),
and a basic resolution mechanic. Ghost/Echo begins with this idea,
"While hunting for loot in the ghost world, your crew was sold out. You've
walked right into an ambush, with hungry Wraiths on your heels." You have
to figure everything else out from there.

Another set-premise, GM-less complete system and story rpg.
You could easily put together a very cool game-con built on these kinds of
games. In Ocean, players take the role of amnesiac survivors on an
abandoned undersea research station. A classic set up, echoing Grace
Under Pressure and the films Leviathan & Deep Star Six.

I also have to point out how smart some of these indie publications are. They
have a handle on graphic design, presentation, and layout. They value economy
over endless detail. They trust players and GMs to make fun with relatively
modest tools. They offer a clear hook they show right away to potential
readers. They also have some amazing covers- knowing how important that is to
getting attention. As a result you get some of the coolest cover images in this
period.

You also get some of the worst cover images in this period.
The game may be great, but I'm likely to pass it by just based on that image.
Most of the reviews I've read of it have been positive- suggesting that it does
what it sets out to do. Slash Flicker is just that, a game where you
play the victims in a Slasher film. The system increases the body count by
allowing players to control more than one character. For a quite positive
review of this game, see Review: impressive
and fun horror movie genre emulation.

Ok, I think I owe Slasher Flick an apology- this may
be a worse cover. I'm not sure what to make of this game. Roaring Twilight
is set in an alternate 1920's populated by supernatural beings: vampires,
werewolves, naga, demons, etc. You can play a supernaturals or just a human.
Exactly what the game's about isn't clear from the blurbs- is it a hunter game?
monster game? slice-of-life in a weird world game? I so strongly associate the
1920's with Lovecraftian gaming that I have a hard time picturing the point of
this. Is it embracing that period for a reason? I'm imagining a mash-up of The
Great Gatsby and Twilight. But I suppose that if Pride and
Prejudice and Zombies sells, then that's not too far a leap. Still, wow,
that cover.

Ok, I owe Roaring Twilight an apology- this is
a worse cover. Terror Thirteen is another broad-ranging generic horror
rpg intended to emulate all periods. The publisher suggests, "...While
other games have focused on adventure horror, this game focuses on supernatural
and cosmic horror as imagined by masters like Shelley, Stoker, Hawthorne, Poe
and Stevenson as well as those stories told by modern masters in film and
literature." I'm not sure that actually narrows anything down. It uses a
basic system with an emphasis on relationships- bonds- as a means of defining
character.

In a smart move companies have begun to publish RPGs in
multiple editions across several systems. Easy DTP, POD and pdf technology have
made this process easier. It still requires experts in each system, but it
significantly increases the potential audience. So we get great products like
Ken Hite's Adventures
into Darkness & The
Day After Ragnarok, the new edition of Earthdawn,
and The
Kerberos Club appearing in multiple forms. Zombacalypse shows up
first in a version for the Aether
system, and later for Savage
Worlds. It offers a zombie sourcebook with advice for how to introduce
the concept into any setting. It has the drawback of being the game name I'm
most likely to mangle while pronouncing.

So...yeah...Geist. I read the publicity materials
when it came out, and it sounded like a version of the older Mummy: The
Resurrection premise with Voudon names. I could be wrong. All I knew
was that it didn't hook me when I read the blurbs for it. Let me go and check
Wikipedia...hold on.

OK, so it still looks a little like Mummy, with a different cosmology.
The characters have died and been given a chance to return but bound to spirits
of death, the 'Sin-Eaters' of the subtitle. The grid here for the PCs is based
on Thresholds, relating to manner of death, and Archetypes, based on the spirits
views on their experience. It doesn't seem to have too much voodoo connection,
except perhaps for the term krewes as a group of Sin-Eaters. While there are
some other adversaries, the central PC purpose seems to be finding and putting
to rest lost souls. There's a lot of new terminology flying around in this
setting and system, symptomatic to the new World of Darkness' approach. I'd
hate to run a cross-system game and try to keep things straight.

I really wish I liked the Cortex system more- I own Smallville,
Serenity,
and Leverage.
I'm not sure what doesn't hook me: presentation, multiple die types, or
something else. What I really need to do is play or watch a well-run session of
one of these games. Perhaps then I'll appreciate how it works; many smart
people love the new Marvel Heroic
Roleplaying system using Cortex. Supernatural uses these to
simulate the ongoing TV show. That suggests one of the difficulties facing
licensed games. On the one hand, if the show is over and complete, you have
access to everything that's been done (Babylon-5, Army of Darkness).
But you also have an audience which may have moved on to other series. On the
other hand, if the show/product's ongoing then you potentially have material
which can change things slightly and require updating (Buffy, Angel)
or completely invalidate what you've done (DC Adventures).
Several seasons have broadcast since this book appeared. As with most of the
Weis licensed products, the publishers have produced a couple of support books,
enough to run a solid campaign. But I'm not sure if they still have the license
or if they plan to publish a "yearbook" covering more recent
developments.